Protecting His Heart (A James Family Novel Book 1) Page 13

  "But…"

  He silenced her with a kiss that brought their passion to new heights. His skin burned with need, the need to feel every inch of Angelina up against his body without a single barrier of fabric. In desperation, his hands worked to get her sweater off. She must have felt the same way; her hands tore at his shirt, popping a couple of buttons as she yanked it open and ran her fingers over his chest. Logan thought he might just spontaneously combust as her fingers burned a trail of heat across his flesh.

  Just as he decided to check the panty status under Angelina's jeans, a loud bang on the bedroom door sounded. They froze.

  "What?" Logan growled.

  "You might want to get out here," Kaiden called through the door. "Keegan spotted some movement coming up the mountain. At least three, maybe more."

  Angelina looked up at him with worried eyes. "It's not even dusk yet," she whispered.

  "Be right there!" Logan called back to his cousin.

  "We're in the kitchen!" Kaiden yelled back even as his footsteps were retreating down the stone hallway.

  "This is it, isn't it?" A slight tremble in her voice betrayed Angelina's fear.

  "Looks like it." Heavy with regret, Logan rose from the bed, buttoned up what buttons he could and tucked his shirt back into his jeans. "I have to go call my lieutenant, let him know what's going on."

  Angelina nodded but didn't say anything.

  "You should stay here." His voice was gruff even as his eyes were tender. Bending over, he placed a kiss on her lips lingering for just a moment as his body begged for more. It took everything he had to break the contact and step away from her.

  With one last hungry glance, Logan turned and strode from the room. He wasn't at all sure where this thing with Angelina was going, if it ever got to go anywhere at all. One thing he was sure of however, when he walked into the kitchen and saw the serious, all business expressions of his cousins, was that he wasn't going to get the chance to find out anytime soon.

  Kaiden looked up when he entered the room, a grin on his face. "Sorry to interrupt you in there, cousin, but I thought you might want in on this."

  "Absolutely. I just have to make a call. Can I borrow your cell?"

  Kaiden put down the shotgun he was loading and tossed his phone to him. Logan stepped into the living room and put in a call to his boss.

  The phone rang only once when Lieutenant George picked up. "That you, James? Where the hell are you?"

  "Thanks for your concern, L.T. I'm just fine, thanks for asking."

  "You've been off the grid since last night! Why don't you answer your cell phone?"

  "I'm not using it anymore. Someone found us at my safe house early this morning.”

  “Us?” George questioned, and Logan realized he hadn't said much about his circumstances in his previous call.

  “I have a woman with me. Her name is Angelina Ferrara and I met her at the school. She's not part of the drug case. Turns out she is in witness protection and the agent assigned to her seems to have given her up to the wrong people. There is a hit out on her and I found her on my way home last night after someone ran her off the road. We discovered a tracking device in her necklace and someone has been trying to kill her since I last spoke to you."

  When he paused, George let out a low whistle. "No way. Where are you now?"

  Logan couldn't take any more time to explain his Aunt Clara's survival bunker so he kept it simple. "At my aunt's place in the mountains."

  "That's way out of our jurisdiction, James."

  "I know."

  "Did the killer track you there?"

  "Yes, but my cousins showed up and scared him off."

  "The twins?"

  "Yeah. It was close but they drove him away. For the time being anyway."

  "I bet he doesn't come back alone."

  "We're ready for them."

  "Why don't you just bring the girl here instead? You are like a couple of sitting ducks up there. We will get to the bottom of this together."

  "It's not safe. They could be anywhere on the mountain."

  "Have those two feds you're related to call in the big guns."

  "This isn't official business. They're both off the clock. My aunt called them in for back up. I had no idea until they saved my backside from a hit man."

  "Okay, here's what I'm gonna do. First, I'm going over to the Witness Protection office and read someone the riot act. What's that agent's name?"

  "Mulholland. Jack Mulholland. But we don't know for sure it was him."

  "Only one way to find out. It seems a good place to start getting some answers anyway. They were responsible for her safety. If someone in that organization gave her up… well, that's just wrong. I'm in the mood for a little blood!" The sound of the man's fist hitting something echoed over the line.

  It was all Logan could do not to laugh. His lieutenant was a passionate man and a moral man. It boiled his blood when people supposed to enforce the law broke it, especially for personal gain. When a couple of street officers had gone on the take with a local drug ring the year before, George had made it his personal mission to have them prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

  "Like I said, I don't have any proof, but I've got a feeling the leak starts with him."

  "Me too, and I don't even know the dude. Or your new lady friend…"

  "George, she's not my 'lady friend'. I told you, I hooked up with her by accident. I couldn't just hang her out to dry, or let a killer get to her."

  "Awfully defensive, my friend." George chuckled into the phone. "I know you as well as my own son and I think the great bachelor, Logan James, may be ready to hang up his hat and think about settling down."

  "For crying out loud, L.T.! We hardly know each other! Our entire two day relationship has consisted of people shooting at us."

  "Simmer down there, James. I'm gonna get off the phone here now and put in a call to the locals by your aunt's place—get you a little back up. When this is over, bring that girl back to town and let's go after the scum who hung her out to dry."

  "Thanks, L.T., you're the best."

  "Hmmm, we will see if you think so when I send you back to that girl's school on Monday!"

  Logan groaned. "Isn't my cover sort of blown there, L.T.?"

  "Nope! Turns out the school had an outbreak of E. Coli. As far as your students and colleagues know, you ate the chicken pot pie in the cafeteria!"

  Lieutenant George dissolved in laughter while Logan spit out a couple of curses. From the kitchen, he heard his cousins calling for him so he gave his boss the address of Clara's place and bid him goodbye.

  Jogging back to the kitchen, he tossed his cousin the phone. Picking up one of Aunt Clara's end of the world rifles, he snapped the bolt and grinned at the twins. "Come on, boys, it's show time! Let's show these dudes what the James men are made of!"

  19

  Angelina

  Angelina watched as Logan left the room then dropped back against the pile of pillows. Her entire body hummed in a way she had never experienced before. There was a time when she had fancied herself in love with Salvatore. But never once did Salvatore's touch have her wanting to rip her clothes off and work up a sweat the way Logan's did.

  If they were not caught up in a battle to save her life she would have followed him out the door, dragged him back, and had her way with him right then.

  A battle to save her life. The thought cooled her heated blood instantaneously.

  Yay for witness protection and a fresh start.

  Loud voices echoed down the hall. The sun had to be dropping below the horizon, the clock on the nightstand read half past six in the evening. If something was going to happen, it was going to happen soon. Screw witness protection and screw Salvatore. Angelina Ferrara was ready to kick some ass and get her life back. She wasn't going to sit back like some delicate flower and wallow in self-pity. If the James family was going to fight for her, then she was going to fight with them.

  Angel
ina jumped from the bed and stepped into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. Ignoring the red, swollen eyes that stared back at her, she tied her wild curls into a knot with a rubber band.

  Wishing she had the Sig Sauer she had been forced to leave behind when she fled the city, Angelina made her way to the front of the bunker, eyes searching for something she could carry as a weapon. When they settled on Logan, there was no mistaking the tiny smile that played the corner of his lips when she looked up at him.

  "I missed you," he whispered next her ear, his breath warm against her skin.

  "It's only been ten minutes."

  "Felt like a lifetime," Logan whispered again as his lips brushed her cheek. "When this is over I want—"

  Kaiden strode into the kitchen right then. "You all set, cousin?"

  Logan straightened up and Angelina studied the stone floor, her cheeks hot with embarrassment.

  Logan released the safety on the gun he held in his hand and nodded. "You bet. Never been more ready for anything."

  "Keegan's up in the crow's nest on top of the bunker. Says there are definitely three dudes heading our way circling the cabin. He's got his eye on the one coming up behind us but the others have gotten lost in the trees."

  "Did you set up a diversion?"

  "Does a bear defecate in the woods?" Kaiden laughed at his own joke and headed down the hall toward the door. "I'm heading up the windmill. You stay here and protect your lady friend."

  "I don't need protecting!" Angelina snapped.

  Kaiden eyed her, one light eyebrow raised in question.

  Quickly backtracking, she apologized. "What I meant was, I want to fight too. That bastard is trying to kill me. Give me a gun, I am a crack shot."

  Without another word, Kaiden tossed her a Glock .45 and several loaded clips then disappeared toward the back of the bunker.

  "Where is your aunt?" Angelina realized she hadn't seen the other woman in quite some time. She held the weapon up and inspected it. It was heavier than she was used to but it felt so good to have a gun in her hand again.

  "Probably in her foxhole."

  "Foxhole?"

  Logan grinned. "Yeah, it's a little underground bunker she designed to help her greet unwanted visitors."

  "And how does she do that?"

  "Usually she shoots at them. Maybe tosses a few explosives into the roadway."

  "Seriously?"

  Logan laughed as he pushed a stray curl behind her ear. "No. But she would if she had to. She's been itching to try it out."

  A loud explosion sounded then, rocking the ground beneath their feet.

  "Guess Aunt Clara found some unwanted guests!" Logan called out as he made his way to the front door. Angelina followed, the Glock poised and ready to start shooting the moment Logan opened the front door. Only he didn't open the door. Instead, he touched something with his finger and the wall next to them slid open.

  "What on earth?" Angelina stammered even as the sounds of gunfire filled the air.

  Logan grabbed her by the arm dragging her into the surprisingly large space and sliding the door closed behind them. A single bulb suspended from the ceiling bathed them in red light.

  "What is this place?" Angelina asked as Logan hurried past her.

  "A safe room. Look there." He motioned to an opening in the wall where he peered out into the yard.

  "A gun turret," Angelina whispered to herself as she peered out into the courtyard. Bright spotlights flooded the area with fluorescent light. Flashes of gunfire filled the surrounding woods. There was a complete war going on outside. A war waged on her account by people she didn't know. The whole thing was wrong on so many levels; she was suddenly beyond angry.

  Her budding anger was stifled though by the approach of a darkly clothed figure inching its way along the wood line. As the figure turned and aimed up at the windmill, she saw the muzzle flash at almost the time she heard the shout, "I'm hit!"

  "Damn it all to hell!" Logan cursed, spitting out a few words Angelina hadn't heard in a good long time. Not since her days on the NYPD.

  "What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

  "One of those bastards got Kaiden. I'm going out there!"

  "I'll back you up."

  Logan stopped and turned around. "No! Don't go out there. I'll be fine. Stay here so I know you're safe."

  "Logan!" she called after him but he was already gone. The door to the safe room was sliding shut. Without thinking, Angelina slipped through the opening just as Logan disappeared into the back of the house. She wouldn't be surprised if the whole mountain was full of underground passages designed to protect the James family from the oft-predicted zombie apocalypse.

  There was a lull in the gunfire. Angelina peeked out the small opening in the front door but she saw nothing at first. The air was quiet. Way too quiet. Like the calm before a tsunami or an F5 tornado. Off to the right of the bunker she caught sight of slight movement along the tree line. A flash of blue told her it was Logan making his way to his cousin. Across the courtyard, half hidden behind Logan's Jeep, Angelina saw a dark form. One of the assassins was using the vehicle for cover and had the long, black barrel of his rifle trained on Logan who was now making his way up the rungs of the windmill tower.

  Why wasn't Keegan covering him?

  Maybe the other man was struck down as well. That meant only she could see the looming figure with the deadly rifle. She had to do something to stop him from shooting Logan off that ladder like a tin can on a fence.

  Create a diversion! Whipping the door open she ran toward the Jeep, gun blazing and screaming for all she was worth.

  The gunman turned to her, his onyx colored eyes hard with hatred and anger. The last thing she saw was the bright orange glow of muzzle flash as her body slammed backward onto the hard ground.

  20

  Logan

  "No! Angelina, don't!" Logan bellowed as he saw the small form dash out from behind the front door.

  Logan jumped from where he crouched by Kaiden and sprayed the courtyard with bullets but the man who had fired at Angelina was gone.

  "You okay, man?" he asked his cousin.

  Kaiden was holding his blood soaked shoulder with his other hand, his tanned skin pale.

  "I'm good. Go check on your woman."

  Logan hesitated for a split second, torn between his cousin and the woman he was falling in love with.

  "I'm all right!" Kaiden shouted insistently. "Go! It's a through and through to my shoulder, I'll be fine. See about Angelina!"

  The platform he stood on began to shake. Logan whipped around aiming his rifle down the ladder.

  "Whoa there, young cousin! Hold your fire!" It was Keegan. "I'll take care of Kaiden!" he shouted as he pulled up over the ledge and onto the small platform. "Get to your lady friend!"

  Logan took the rungs two at a time, dropping to the ground from ten feet up in his hurry to get to Angelina.

  Aunt Clara was faster. The woman materialized out of nowhere, crouching at Angelina's side as she frantically punched in numbers on her cell phone.

  Angelina's bronze skin had gone pale, her body much too still. He watched for the rise and fall of her chest but saw nothing. Logan felt for a pulse, relieved when he found one, thready and weak, but there.

  "Keegan!" Aunt Clara called out. "How's your brother!"

  "Alive, ma! We're coming down now!" Keegan yelled back.

  "Tell that boy I'm gonna whoop his behind for getting himself shot!"

  "You gotta catch me first, Ma!" Kaiden called back, voice weak but solid.

  "Come on, Angelina, hang on!" Logan whispered as he tried to locate her wounds and put pressure on them. There were more holes than he had hands. "Don't let Salvatore win!"

  "Salvatore?" Aunt Clara had shut off her phone and dropped it into her pocket. "Who is Salvatore?"

  "What does it matter, Aunt Clara? We need to get Angelina to a hospital!" Panic had set in, and he knew he wasn't thinking clearly. The only thing h
e could think of was how much Angelina was bleeding and how desperately he needed to get her help. Reaching down to scoop her up—he would run all the way down the mountain if he had to—it took all his self-control not to strike when his aunt lay a gentle hand on his arm.

  "Let her be, boy. There is help on the way."

  He reached for her again. "No damned ambulance is going to find us! I need to get her to the main road."

  Logan paced around Angelina. His nerves wouldn't let him sit still. He couldn't stop the blood. Couldn't save her, just like he couldn't save his mother.

  Clara sat with a towel putting pressure on Angelina's chest and nodded off into the distance. "Who said anything about an ambulance?" The distant chopping sound of helicopter blades made him look up at the sky in the direction his aunt was now pointing.

  "A helicopter? Who do you know that owns a helicopter?"

  "I know a lot of people. Now, settle down a minute. All that pacing you have taken to is making me dizzy."

  Logan slowed, but he didn't stop. Instead, he changed direction, heading back toward the house. With every step he monitored Angelina's labored breathing as though his movement kept her lungs rising and falling.

  "Now, tell me, Logan. Who is Salvatore?"

  "Some mobster in New York City. Angelina was undercover in the family. He's the one who wants her dead."

  Aunt Clara's face went as close to white as her deeply tanned, leathery skin could manage. "Salvatore Ricci? Please tell me she's not mixed up with the Ricci family."

  Logan did stop walking then. "Yeah, why?"

  "I've heard of them through some friends. That is one dangerous crowd. No wonder he has such… talented… employees." Clara motioned to the bodies of the hit men lying in the courtyard.

  The helo was getting closer. Logan could feel the thud of its blades in his chest as adrenaline coursed through his body and pounded in his veins.

  "Hang on, Angelina. Help is on the way," he whispered close to her ear. She didn't move but her eyelashes fluttered ever so slightly. Did that mean she heard him?